West Bengal athlete Moumita Mondal reflects on her achievement at National Games 2025

Moumita Mondal gave an inspiring performance and won a gold medal in long jump and a silver medal in 100m hurdles at the National Games 2025.

Reliance Foundation athletes showcased a stellar performance at the National Games 2025 in Uttarakhand, securing an impressive 43 medals across eight different sports, including a dominant tally of 21 medals in athletics. This marks the Foundation’s most successful outing at the National Games. The final tally included 20 Gold, 16 Silver and 7 Bronze medals. 

Animesh Kujur emerged as a star performer, clinching three Golds in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. Jyothi Yarraji, won two Golds in the 100m hurdles and 200m events, continuing her remarkable streak of winning Gold. National record holder Tejas Shirse added to the medal haul by winning Gold in the men’s 110m hurdles. Jyoti and Tejas have now won gold medals in each of the last three editions.

Jyothi (100m hurdles) and Sawan (5000m and 10000m), along with Kiran Mhatre (10000m), who won silver behind Sawan, also met the qualification standard for the Asian Championships later in 2025. 

Martin Owens, Head Coach, Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre, said, “This was a very successful National Games for Reliance Foundation athletes. We had as many as seven personal bests and new meet records in athletics alone, which is a brilliant start to a crucial season coming up with the Asian Championships to follow later in the year. Our athletics contingent won 12 Golds, which shows how dominant our athletes were and hopefully, this gives them a lot of confidence for the season ahead.”

Moumita Mandal gave an inspiring performance and won the gold medal in the long jump and the silver medal in 100 meter hurdles. Reflecting on her achievement, she said, “Of course, I am happy to win two medals but I am not satisfied because I want to push more and more. I want to break my Personal Best again and again and I believe in myself.

The year has started very well. Hopefully, I can perform at my best in upcoming competitions this year. When I needed support, an opportunity, and facilities to grow my athletics career, my coach James Hillier was there for me and Reliance Foundation stood by me. Reliance Foundation does everything that an athlete needs to reach their destination and I’m glad that I got the opportunity to train under coach James. I also want to thank all the kitchen staff from our Mumbai training centre who helped me as they every time fed us from their hearts.”

• Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won the full set of medals in this edition alone, winning Gold in the men’s doubles, silver in the men’s singles and bronze in the men’s team event in a remarkable display battling fever.
• Ganemat Sekhon won Gold in skeet, setting a national record with a score of 124 in the qualification round. Sekhon also won a silver in the skeet mixed team event on the final day of action. Judokas Tulika Maan and Himanshi Tokas added to the tally with Gold and Silver in their respective weight categories.

Sawan Barwal and Bapi Hansda break through in style

• Young distance runner Sawan Barwal achieved the rare double of winning Gold in both the 5000m and 10,000m events, while Bapi Hansda secured his first national-level Gold in the men’s 400m with a personal best time of 46.82s.

Pistol shooters impress in high-quality field

• Veteran shooter Gurpreet Singh bagged Silver in the 25m rapid-fire pistol and Bronze in the 10m air pistol. Ravinder Singh joined him on the 10m air pistol podium with Silver. Niraj Kumar clinched Gold in the 50m rifle 3 positions event, while Palak Gulia secured Silver in the women’s 10m air pistol event. Ashi Chouksey also shattered the world record in the qualification round of the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event.
• Badminton prodigy Unnati Hooda played a pivotal role in Haryana’s women’s team championship win, and Anupama Upadhyaya followed up her Gold from the previous edition with a Silver in women’s singles.
• In archery, Goldie Mishra won Gold in the men’s recurve team event and Bronze in the mixed team event, while Juyel Sarkar capped a strong campaign by winning Gold in the men’s recurve individual event.
• Lovlina Borgohain also won Gold on her return to action after the Paris Olympics in a high-class display in the women’s 75kg category in boxing.

Reliance Foundation also provided its athletes with a dedicated recovery centre at the Games to ensure optimal performance and well-being, marking the first such instance at the National Games. The Foundation remains committed to nurturing India’s Olympic talent and creating a supportive environment to help athletes achieve their dreams.

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